Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Here I am, totally ignorant of what will happen, trying on my pussy hat for the Women’s March on Washington. ( “SPES” by the way, is Latin for “hope”, something in short supply lately.)

People asked me why I felt I had to take my walker and go all the way across the country to do this when there were protests in town. There are either too many answers to that, or none. One reason is that more than half my ancestors have been in the country since before 1700. They settled the land, served in the armies and government. Some were kind, compassionate people, some weren’t. Some clear cut trees for their fields, fought Natives in King Joseph’s War, owned slaves and persecuted Quakers. One can be proud of Colonial ancestors but also see the results of their actions.

I stand with Standing Rock, because they were among those who pushed Natives onto reservations.

I stand for women’s rights because my male ancestors refused to vote for them.

I believe Black Lives Matter remembering how those of my family believed their lives were property.

In short, I believe in not repeating history but in working hard to make the world better and more equal for all.

So, I went to Washington and it was a euphoric experience. Whatever you hear, I was surrounded by people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders and professions. They say that there were so many causes that it was chaos. I didn’t see one sign I didn’t agree with. Heidi Stemple put it better than I can:

I’m seeing lots of criticism of the Women’s Marches. Let us all remember, that whatever it meant to each of us– every one of those reasons are important and significant. Did we save access to health care for women? Did we stop the pipeline or make undocumented people more safe? No. But, we needed each other and we showed up to prove that we are here and not to be taken lightly, forgotten, or discounted. We are women who, when pushed, will push back. Will letters or phone calls help these causes? Perhaps not. But, we, the daughters, mothers, lovers, and sisters, we will raise our voices and shout down those who wish to keep us down–every damn time– until the time when we find or make or learn other ways to make a difference. We ARE the wall. We will take care of the children you will leave behind and we will boil the water you make unsafe to drink. We will nurse the ill who have no access to health care. We will teach the science you refuse to believe. We will remember the souls you shoot and kill on the streets. We will form the secret networks to help all the people you care nothing about. We are not snowflakes. We are the people who birthed you, fed you, nurtured you. Do NOT mistake our femininity as weakness. Because, even when we are down, WE ARE NOT WITHOUT POWER.

What she said. Here are some examples of the wonderful people who came out to support us all:

United Health Workers. There were at least a hundred of them, with shirts, purple hats and stickers. (They gave me one) They marched for health care for all and better working conditions for those who do the real caring; home health workers, CNAs and nurses.

There were many people supporting gay and trans issues.

Domestic workers came to many of the marches all over the country. They wanted respect, immigration reform, health care and decent pay. Or, as they said. Human Rights for all.

These speak for themselves. Personally, I think that a man wearing a pussyhat is very appealing. A man who takes his daughter to a march for human rights is a treasure and an example to fathers everywhere.

When your congress person votes to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, this young man is the one who will have fewer treatment and education options. Many people were concerned about health care cost and availability. I rant about this all the time. We are the only first world country without national health. Could is possibly be because there is such a powerful health insurance lobby ?

So, this is my new Facebook image, partly because I need to keep reminding myself not to fear and partly because I really would like to look as beautiful as she.

I apologize for not getting this to you before. I almost had the whole list finished when I was called away for a family emergency. I’m still playing catch-up. Those of you who were in my class won’t be surprised that most of these books are translations of primary sources. There are others in Arabic, French, German and Latin but these are a good place to begin. I have included authors from several sides of the Crusades. Not just Western European and Muslim, but Greek, Armenian, Syrian and Jewish points of view, as well.

At this time, when contradictory information is flying about everywhere, I believe it’s useful to examine what we think we know about history and then apply it to a critical look at the report of an horrendous atrocity that one’s brother-in-law just posted.

Crusade Bibliography

Primary Sources: Muslim

Ibn al-Athir, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period 2. Volumes. tr. D. S. Richards (Ashgate, 2007) [He wrote in the 13th century and was an advocate for Saladin, but he had access to a lot of older material]

Baha’ al-Din Ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin. tr. D. S. Richards (Ashgate, 2002) [a contemporary and friend of Saladin who witnessed many of the events]

Francesco Gabrieli, ed. and tr. Arab Historians of the Crusades, (Dorset Press, 1969) [For a long time this was one of the few English translations. It covers the time between the First Crusade and the fall of Acre and is a good introduction]

Ibn Al-Qalansi. The Damascus Chronicles of the Crusades. Tr. H.A.R. Gibb (Luzac & Co. London, 1932) [An account by an important member of the government of Damascus who was an adult at the time of the First Crusade. He died in 1160.]

Usama ibn-Munqidh. An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Time of the Crusades. Tr. Phillip K. Hitti (Columbia University Press, 1929) [Usama (1095-1188) wrote this memoir late in his eventful life. An Arab aristocrat who refused to learn Turkish, although he fought with the Turkish armies, he was born at Shaizar and died in Damascus. Arrogant but entertaining, his account shows the ways in which the Christian settlers and upper-class Arabs interacted. The Templars kept a place for him to pray; he hunted with the king of Jerusalem, but that didn’t stop him from killing them in battle. Some stories are hearsay and other embellished. Great fun.]

Primary Sources: Western:

Edward Peters, ed. The First Crusade: the Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978)

Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate, ed. & tr. Letters from the East: Crusaders Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th and 13th Centuries, (Ashgate, 2013) [While not all these are letters as we would term them, the collection gives first-hand slices of information on events that are often only given a sentence or two in histories.]

Fulcher of Chartres. A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127, tr. Frances Rita Ryan (Norton 1969) [Fulcher went on the First Crusade and stayed in Jerusalem. He was a cheerleader for settlement and sometimes his description is a bit too rosy, but his account is invaluable.]

Anon. Gesta Francorum: The Deads of the Franks and the other Pilgrims to Jerusalem ed. Rasalind Hill. (Oxford University Press, 1962) [ An eyewitness account of the Frist Crusade from the speech at Clermont in 1095 to the siege of Ascalon in 1099. The author was an educated soldier, not a cleric. His descriptions of battle and the siege of Antioch are harrowing]

Guibert de Nogent, The Deeds of God through the Franks, tr. Robert Levine. (Boydell, 1997) [Guibert was a French monk who got his information from returning pilgrims. He presents various views on the crusades. He also wrote an autobiography, which I find very amusing]

Albert of Achen. History of the Journey to Jerusalem 2 vols. Tr. Edgington (Ashgate 2013) [Albert also stayed in Europe and acquired his information from returning travelers, but his account fills in gaps in others]

William of Tyre. A history of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, ed. Babcock and Krey. (Farrar Straus, Giroux, 19760 [born in Jerusalem, William was sent back to Europe for schooling and returned to become bishop of Tyre and tutor to Baldwin IV, the leper king. Many of the events he recorded happened while he was gone, but he is excellent, if opinionated, on people he knew and interviewed many who had lived through the time he chronicles.]

The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen Bachrach, Bernard S. and Bachrach, David S. (eds.), (Ashgate.) The Norman view of the early Italo-Norman rulers of Antioch. I haven’t had a chance to read it, yet.

Odo of Deuil, The Journey of Louis VII to the East. Tr, Virginia Berry. (Norton, 1948, many editions) [Odo went with Louis and Eleanor and was miserable most of the way. His chronicle ends when he reached Antioch and things started to get interesting. He seems to have been to depressed to say more.]

Peter Edbury, ed. The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade (Ashgate 1998) [This is a translation of the continuation of William of Tyre. It covers the complicated dynastic struggles in Jerusalem, the rise of Saladin and the resulting crusade.]

The Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi tr. Helen J. Nicholson, (Ashgate 2001)[ A flattering portrait of the Third Crusade and King Richard the Lionheart.]

G. A. Loud, ed. & tr. The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Other Accounts. (Ashgate, 2010) The best known life of Frederick and his time on the third Crusade was written by his uncle, Otto. Loud gives translations from a variety of other chroniclers

Robert de Clari. The Conquest of Constantinople, tr. Edgar Holmes McNeal (University of Toronto Press,1996) [Robert was a soldier on the Fourth Crusade. His report from the ground is illuminating , since he stayed through the capture of Constantinople.]

Janet Shirley tr. Crusader Syria in the Thirteenth Century (Ashgate 1999) [A translation of two chronicles covering the crusades from 1229 – 1261, led by Theobald of Champagne and then Louis IX of France. The first, Rothelin, is totally disjointed but wonderful in that he veers from accounts of the expeditions to magic and protest songs from the ranks. Eracles is not so much fun but contains much information]

Walter the Chancellor. The Antiochene Wars tr. Asbridge and Edginton (Ashgate 1999) [Walter was chancellor in Antioch in the early days of the Latin settlement. He gives the story of the battles among both the Crusaders and the local Muslims, making it clear that they often allied against a common foe. He tells of his time as a hostage in Aleppo. A good counterpoint to the completely Eurocentric accounts]

Anna Comnena. The Alexiad. tr. E.R.A. Sewter (Penguin Classics, 1969/2003) [Opinionated Anna was in the thick of things in Constantinople during the First Crusade. The book was written to glorify her father, the usurper, Emperor Alexis, but everyone else is fair game. Her comments on the leaders of the Crusade are priceless]

Matthew of Edessa, Armenia and the Crusades. Tr. Ara Doustourian. (Armenian Heritage Press, 2014) [This new, revised edition is fabulous. Matthew lived in Edessa before and during the early Crusades. He is highly opinionated and he gives accounts of life there under Muslim and Frankish rulers that are barely mentioned in other sources. Everyone interested in the crusader period should read this. We have so few minority views of life then.]

General Histories of the Crusades:

Thomas F. Madden The New Concise History of the Crusades. (MD: Rowman &Amp; Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006)[I’ve liked much of his earlier work but haven’t had a chance to look at this]

Hans Eberhard Mayer The Crusades (Oxford University Press, 1988) An expert German historian who takes a less French-centered view.

Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusaders, 1095-1131, (Cambridge UP, 1997) [A comprehensive look at the leaders and ranks of the first wave from the west. He also wrote a three volume history on all the Crusades.]

Carole Hillenbrand. The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. (Edinburgh University Press, 2010) [This is a fabulous book, full of quotes, analysis and pictures. She discusses relations among the Arab/Turkish/North African Muslims as well as their interactions with other groups. Her writing is clear and she makes her biases obvious so that the reader can take them into account. Whatever general history you read, this should be a companion.]

Christopher Tyerman. God’s War: a New History of the Crusades. (Belnap/Harvard, 2006) [A vast history, strong on military and political events. It’s not intended to be a social history and powerful women are given less space than the men. The strengths of the book are an emphasis on the role of the Italian city-states, his coverage of the crusades in Spain and the Baltic, and a section on the Albigensian Crusade.]

WARNING!!!Whatever book you choose for a general survey of the period, if the author is listed as a reporter for the New York Times or the Washington Post, put it back on the shelf. These books are popular but wildly inaccurate. I have no idea why these people think they can write a history because they’ve been to the Middle East and read a couple of books on the topic. ARRGH!

Websites and blogs:

Andrew Holt is a medieval historian and local TV pundit who has a blog that often covers the Crusades.

He has also edited a book with Alfred J. Andrea, Seven myths of the Crusades, Hackett Publishing, Indianapolis, 2015 ($19.00) This is a good corrective for a lot of things that “everyone knows”, including the non-connection between the Templars and the Freemasons.

The Medieval Sourcebook. This is a wonderful resource for primary sources in translation. Paul Halsall has maintained it for many years.

This is the usual American image of Halloween. Adorable children in costumes, going door to door, collecting treats and laughing. When I was a child we went out alone and ranged as far as we could walk. Now children are shadowed by parents or organized into parties at community centers. In my grandfather’s day they were

closer to the original meaning of Halloween. He and his friends stole furniture from porches, tipped over outhouses and generally destroyed anything they could.

Now, what has this to do with either the election or the end of the world? OK, it’s a tenuous connection. But I was thinking about how many people feel that if their candidates don’t win, the world is headed down in a spiral to destruction. Nothing prophetic, Biblical, Mayan or mathematical. One group is certain that the world will be crushed under a load of debt. The other is sure that international industrialists will run amok and destroy the ecosystem so we’ll have nothing left to eat, drink or breathe.

I’m not as concerned about the accuracy of these theories as I am about the climate that is producing them. Even though the Mayan believers have been quiet lately along with the ones worried about a galactic alignment, sunspots and rogue killer asteroids, there is still an overarching sense of impending DOOM.

Campaign ads are to blame, I’m sure of it. Never mind racial or gender slurs, opposing candidates have become antichrists. If we don’t vote for the correct one, Satan will rule. If you don’t believe me, watch a few hundred of these. Therefore, my feeling is that we’ve done this to ourselves because in our collective id, we like feeling on the edge of disaster. Why? I’m really asking. I have no idea. Is it adrenalin? A need to wipe the slate and start over? Too many post-apocalyptic movies where the main characters are gorgeous and compassionate and we think there will be more of them then for us to meet?

Why aren’t we thinking more about saving the world for the cute, innocent kids to trick or treat in?
Just a thought.

I recently have been put to a great deal of trouble based on information that someone got from a website that I hadn’t updated in over two years. It would have taken less than five minutes to find out if the information was accurate but the person took the page as current and never bothered to follow up, even though logic would have told him that it put me in two places at the same time.

This was annoying but it also brought home to me how much we believe these days from only looking at single sources. Part of this is, as someone explained to me, “People like to believe things that confirm their prejudices.” If what you read does, why bother to check further?

One result of this is that people are happy to base their votes on the certainty that Mitt Romney personally hired Chinese peasants to take jobs from Americans or that Barack Obama is on the payroll of the Israeli government. (I’ve heard both of these. DON’T cite me as a source) Which you believe depends on how you already feel about these men. How many of us are happy to hit “share” without finding out if there is any truth in the statements?

We have always been inclined to do this. Word of mouth has been a source of “accurate” news for thousands of years. Advances in the means of communication has only accelerated this and not just recently. As I say in THE REAL HISTORY OF THE TEMPLARS, King Philippe IV had broadsides read throughout France telling of the crimes that the Templars confessed to. These were so successful that some people still believe them.

But now anyone with internet access can find both totally unsupported gossip and also, with more work, the facts behind it. The problem is that few people bother. One of the things I notice most, as an historian, is the way in which myths root themselves like stinkweed and can’t be eradicated. I know for a fact that there are people who believe everyone in the Middle Ages was five feet tall, didn’t live past thirty, thought the earth was flat, never bathed, put women in chastity belts and believed everything the pope told them. (Of course my readers are smarter than that) All of these things have been proven many times to be false but, because so many people WANT to believe they’re true, they never bothered to find out. Even worse, they are sure that historical and archeological reports to the contrary must be fabricated.

Why is it that so many people thought/think that the Mayans predicted the end of the world? How many are certain that aliens have visited earth? All rich people are heartless and greedy. All poor people are lazy and don’t want to work. We love thinking in generalities. I include myself in this, but I have also been trained as an historian and that means finding more than one source to prove my assumptions. It also means being able to accept that my first impressions and preconceptions might be wrong.

I’m posting this on both blogs and my fan page. It covers everything. I suppose it’s a sort of manifesto against fuzzy logic. Along with the grammar police, I intend to submit a bill in the Senate requiring schools to emphasize analytical thinking. I shall also establish remedial classes for anyone entering politics. Any out-of-work historians or experimental scientists like to apply to teach them?